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SearchHow can I transcend my fear of being penniless and a burden to my daughter?
Question:
I am sober now nine years. I am very aware of the awakening process that began at that time, and since beginning ACIM and becoming dedicated to the Truth, I have had so many of my ego thoughts just disappear. Meanwhile, I have been able to support myself financially, but at what cost? I am tired all the time—I do things I don't want to do and yet I'm still afraid to do nothing. To just be. I don't want to stay at this job much longer, but I am afraid that if I leave, ”others" will say I'm forever running, never satisfied, always moving from one job to the other, I am so irresponsible and lazy, who does she think she is? You can't just up and leave a job that others would love to have?
I am committed to Joy and happiness and abundance and Love. I want that more than anything. The fear of being penniless and a burden to my daughter is what keeps me stuck I think.
Answer:
Thanks for your devotion to Awakening. As you progress inward it will be more and more evident that you are happily becoming God-dependent. This is the meaning of "Except ye become as little children ye cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Infants are completely dependent on their parents for survival in this world. Likewise, one must be completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to remember the Christ Self and God's Love. As you follow the Voice for God within, the doubt thoughts will continue to seem to dissolve, and your apparent "needs" as you serve the Plan will be handled miraculously. Now is a time of deepening in our shared Purpose, for this depth is required to take the steps that will surely follow. Be gentle and kind and nurture the Awakening of the mind by addressing whatever is placed before you. Let the tomorrow take care of tomorrow. Concerns and worries about the future are never prudent or practical, for they are always based on the past.
Ease your way into Divine Providence by accepting the Peace within, and watch how effortlessly and miraculously everything is handled for you by the Holy Spirit. You are a messenger of God's Love and God's Messengers are worth their keep while they serve the Holy Spirit's Purpose. Like many, you will benefit from witnesses of being about the Holy Spirit's Purpose. You will seem to take on a lofty function as a miracle worker, for you have been Called by the Holy Spirit to this holy function. The many "doings" on which you will be sent will bring with them much Joy. And these miracles will convince your mind that the "laws" of the world it seemed to believe in and serve were never real. Your "story" will be miraculous, and then you will see that you are far more than any story that ever seemed to be. You are the One!
I am joined with you in Purpose and rejoice with you as the doubt thoughts disappear from your awareness. They will all disappear. All Glory to the One Who creates Perfectly and Eternally!!!
Love,
David
How can one live without future goals and ambitions??
Question:
What is life without goals and ambitions? An aim or a goal in life drives us to do work or action, and that keeps us busy and occupied. So many people, people with good intentions, people seeking peace of mind, do action driven by an aim or goal. What should I do today that takes care of my family now and also in the future, and so on and so forth.
A goal, ambition or aim is a thing of the future. So I guess my question is what is living in the present, if the essence of the "present" is the past and the future? I mean present does not exist without a past or future.
Answer:
Thanks for your sincere question. It seems that life is moving forward in this world and that time and progress move forward toward the future. Future goals seem to aim at something better than the past or present. Yet the past is gone and the future is but imagined. Both are defenses against the Present Moment and the realization that everything is Perfect right Now.
In Awakening, time seems to collapse, it seems to shorten, and it seems to move backward toward the original error and then disappear entirely in the Innocence that precedes the error. In Awakening, time is like a carpet that rolls back and rolls up completely, so that nothing is left at all. The Present is before time was. This is another way of saying what Jesus taught: "Before Abraham was, I am." Awakening is remembering Original Innocence, and this Enlightenment experience has everything to do with Now and nothing to do with time. The essence of the Present Moment is Eternity, and Now has nothing to do with linear time or past or future. Life is a State of Mind. With regard to this world, the closest approximation of Eternity is Now. Now is the rebirth of Spirit in awareness. Now is free of past regrets and grievances and future worries and anxious plans. There is a meaning to the quote, ”Man without a dream or a vision shall perish." Without the happy dream of non-judgment, without the Vision of Christ, everything of this world does seem to perish, for nothing of this world is everlasting.
Goals and ambitions seem practical in the world, yet if they are aimed at the future and future outcomes, I assure you that they are ego motivations. Present Peace is a "goal" worth desiring, for it is more than possible; it is inevitable. The experience of Present Peace results from listening only to the Spirit within, and to the Spirit there is no tomorrow. The Holy Spirit uses time to teach that there is no time. This is the Purpose that inspires and blesses and even seems to motivate action until the awareness dawns that nothing is really happening. The happy dream is like a lucid dream in which the dreamer is aware of dreaming. Dreams are not taken to be Reality, and sleep is not taken to be Wakefulness.
If you feel like you are driven to "do” things, ask yourself if there is a fear of consequences. If you believe that to not "do” things will result in fearful consequences, then it is wise to examine what is believed. As long as fearful beliefs are held as true, thoughts and actions will be fear-driven. Forgiveness is a miracle and it releases the mind from fear of consequences. Let the Holy Spirit be the Purpose that gently Guides, and you will never feel "driven" again! Value not one belief the ego sponsors and enjoy the experience of Divine Ease. Not one seeming difficulty but will melt away before you reach it.
Accept Present Bliss as our Purpose, and watch how bright the world seems in awareness. Seek not to change the world, seek rather to change your mind about the world. Enlightenment is as simple as accepting the Changeless as True. For there is nothing else but Love! All Glory to God!
Love Everlasting,
David
A Discussion About Needs: A gathering with David around the topics of need, money, releasing the belief in lack and scarcity, and trust.
General description: In this gathering, David answers questions such as: "Can I practice the Course AND focus on making enough money to have my needs met?" (1m30s), "By releasing my belief in scarcity, does that mean that my problems will disappear because I'll suddenly attract more money?" (15m40s), and "If the "outer" reflects the "inner", shouldn't there always be a change in form when I change my mind about a situation?" (24m57s) Enjoy!
Listen to the audio here: http://www.livingmiraclescenter.org/MP3/QandA_audios/A_Discussion_about_Needs.mp3
Not Having a Job video: Along the spiritual path, we gradually outgrow the concept of lack and thus, the concept of needing a job.
General description: While the mind is invested in lack, working at a job to meet perceived needs is very practical. Even if the needs were set up by the ego, they must be slowly unwound under Spirit's guidance. Can a CEO be enlightened? "No." The ego-mind is full of false concepts that generate upset. As you move along with Spirit and empty your mind, you come to a still point; you realize you are full of light. You realize you are sustained by Divine Providence. The mind of a CEO is full of business concepts, not allowing for the light. Concepts like jobs are slowly outgrown.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTC6u8GaLs
Is it okay to pray for satisfactory employment?
Question:
I've been hoping to find the right job and experience prosperity and peace; to get un-stuck so I could move on in my journey. Last night I couldn't sleep. As I lay there, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the real barrier to the awareness of Love's Presence for me was my unforgiveness of all of my seeming past abusers and abandoners, and myself for "failing" and then blaming God. I know I need help to cross this block to peace. I thank Holy Spirit. Although I still feel some inner conflict I know that the source of my guilt, fear and pain is within, and therefore so is my salvation. I feel as if I am standing on the edge of a cliff and I need the Holy Spirit's help to take the next step. I would appreciate your prayers and guidance.
Answer:
Thanks for pouring your heart out and being open and willing for Guidance about prayer. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.
Now for some Guidance about prayer. Prayer is desire. A heart which knows no desire has cleared the Altar of mind, and desires that there be no idols before God. Desirelessness is Completion, and God created Christ Whole and Complete. Desirelessness means that there is nothing to add or wish or want beyond the Perfection that God Gives Eternally. Single or unified desire is Creation, and this is the meaning of "Let Thine Eye be Single." Christ has Given the "Song Of Prayer" as direct Guidance about the topic of prayer. I will include some passages below for you to ponder, so that you may ask the Holy Spirit within for further clarification and illumination:
Prayer
Prayer is the greatest gift with which God blessed His Son at his creation. It was then what it is to become; the single voice Creator and creation share; the song the Son sings to the Father, Who returns the thanks it offers Him unto the Son. Endless the harmony, and endless, too, the joyous concord of the Love They give forever to Each Other. And in this, creation is extended. God gives thanks to His extension in His Son. His Son gives thanks for his creation, in the song of his creating in his Father's Name. The Love They share is what all prayer will be throughout eternity, when time is done. For such it was before time seemed to be.
To you who are in time a little while, prayer takes the form that best will suit your need. You have but one. What God created one must recognize its oneness, and rejoice that what illusions seemed to separate is one forever in the Mind of God. Prayer now must be the means by which God's Son leaves separate goals and separate interests by, and turns in holy gladness to the truth of union in his Father and himself.
Lay down your dreams, you holy Son of God, and rising up as God created you, dispense with idols and remember Him. Prayer will sustain you now, and bless you as you lift your heart to Him in rising song that reaches higher and then higher still, until both high and low have disappeared. Faith in your goal will grow and hold you up as you ascend the shining stairway to the lawns of Heaven and the gate of peace. For this is prayer, and here salvation is. This is the way. It is God's gift to you.
True Prayer
Prayer is a way offered by the Holy Spirit to reach God. It is not merely a question or an entreaty. It cannot succeed until you realize that it asks for nothing. How else could it serve its purpose? It is impossible to pray for idols and hope to reach God. True prayer must avoid the pitfall of asking to entreat. Ask, rather, to receive what is already given; to accept what is already there.
You have been told to ask the Holy Spirit for the answer to any specific problem, and that you will receive a specific answer if such is your need. You have also been told that there is only one problem and one answer. In prayer this is not contradictory. There are decisions to make here, and they must be made whether they be illusions or not. You cannot be asked to accept answers which are beyond the level of need that you can recognize. Therefore, it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked. The form of the answer, if given by God, will suit your need as you see it. This is merely an echo of the reply of His Voice. The real sound is always a song of thanksgiving and of Love.
You cannot, then, ask for the echo. It is the song that is the gift. Along with it come the overtones, the harmonics, the echoes, but these are secondary. In true prayer, you hear only the song. All the rest is merely added. You have sought first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all else has indeed been given to you.
The secret of true prayer is to forget the things you think you need. To ask for the specific is much the same as to look on sin and then forgive it. Also in the same way, in prayer you overlook your specific needs as you see them, and let them go into God's Hands. There they become your gifts to Him, for they tell Him that you would have no gods before Him; no Love but His. What could His answer be but your remembrance of Him? Can this be traded for a bit of trifling advice about a problem of an instant's duration? God answers only for eternity. But still, all little answers are contained in this.
Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go, a quiet time of listening and loving. It should not be confused with supplication of any kind, because it is a way of remembering your holiness. Why should holiness entreat, being fully entitled to everything Love has to offer? And it is to Love you go in prayer. Prayer is an offering; a giving up of yourself to be at one with Love. There is nothing to ask because there is nothing left to want. That nothingness becomes the altar of God. It disappears in Him.
This is not a level of prayer that everyone can attain as yet. Those who have not reached it still need your help in prayer because their asking is not yet based upon acceptance. Help in prayer does not mean that another mediates between you and God. But it does mean that another stands beside you and helps to raise you up to Him. One who has realized the goodness of God prays without fear. And one who prays without fear cannot but reach Him. He can therefore also reach His Son, wherever he may be and whatever form he may seem to take.
Praying to Christ in anyone is true prayer because it is a gift of thanks to His Father. To ask that Christ be but Himself is not an entreaty. It is a song of thanksgiving for what you are. Herein lies the power of prayer. It asks nothing and receives everything. This prayer can be shared because it receives for everyone. To pray with one who knows that this is true is to be answered. Perhaps the specific form of resolution for a specific problem will occur to either of you; it does not matter which. Perhaps it will reach both if you are genuinely attuned to one another. It will come because you have realized that Christ is in both of you. That is its only truth.
The Ladder of Prayer
Prayer has no beginning and no end. It is a part of life. But it does change in form, and grow with learning until it reaches its formless state, and fuses into total communication with God. In its asking form it need not, and often does not, make appeal to God, or even involve belief in Him. At these levels prayer is merely wanting, out of a sense of scarcity and lack.
These forms of prayer, or asking-out-of-need, always involve feelings of weakness and inadequacy, and could never be made by a Son of God who knows Who he is. No one, then, who is sure of his Identity could pray in these forms. Yet it is also true that no one who is uncertain of his Identity can avoid praying in this way. And prayer is as continual as life. Everyone prays without ceasing. Ask and you have received, for you have established what it is you want.
It is also possible to reach a higher form of asking-out-of-need, for in this world prayer is reparative, and so it must entail levels of learning. Here, the asking may be addressed to God in honest belief, though not yet with understanding. A vague and usually unstable sense of identification has generally been reached, but tends to be blurred by a deep-rooted sense of sin. It is possible at this level to continue to ask for things of this world in various forms, and it is also possible to ask for gifts such as honesty or goodness, and particularly for forgiveness for the many sources of guilt that inevitably underlie any prayer of need. Without guilt there is no scarcity. The sinless have no needs.
At this level also comes that curious contradiction in terms known as "praying for one's enemies." The contradiction lies not in the actual words, but rather in the way in which they are usually interpreted. While you believe you have enemies, you have limited prayer to the laws of this world, and have also limited your ability to receive and to accept to the same narrow margins. And yet, if you have enemies you have need of prayer, and great need, too. What does the phrase really mean? Pray for yourself, that you may not seek to imprison Christ and thereby lose the recognition of your own Identity. Be traitor to no one, or you will be treacherous to yourself.
An enemy is the symbol of an imprisoned Christ. And who could He be except yourself? The prayer for enemies thus becomes a prayer for your own freedom. Now it is no longer a contradiction in terms. It has become a statement of the unity of Christ and a recognition of His sinlessness. And now it has become holy, for it acknowledges the Son of God as he was created.
Let it never be forgotten that prayer at any level is always for yourself. If you unite with anyone in prayer, you make him part of you. The enemy is you, as is the Christ. Before it can become holy, then, prayer becomes a choice. You do not choose for another. You can but choose for yourself. Pray truly for your enemies, for herein lies your own salvation. Forgive them for your sins, and you will be forgiven indeed.
Prayer is a ladder reaching up to Heaven. At the top there is a transformation much like your own, for prayer is part of you. The things of earth are left behind, all unremembered. There is no asking, for there is no lack. Identity in Christ is fully recognized as set forever, beyond all change and incorruptible. The light no longer flickers, and will never go out. Now, without needs of any kind, and clad forever in the pure sinlessness that is the gift of God to you, His Son, prayer can again become what it was meant to be. For now it rises as a song of thanks to your Creator, sung without words, or thoughts, or vain desires, unneedful now of anything at all. So it extends, as it was meant to do. And for this giving, God Himself gives thanks.
God is the goal of every prayer, giving it timelessness instead of end. Nor has it a beginning, because the goal has never changed. Prayer in its earlier forms is an illusion, because there is no need for a ladder to reach what one has never left. Yet prayer is part of forgiveness as long as forgiveness, itself an illusion, remains unattained. Prayer is tied up with learning until the goal of learning has been reached. And then all things will be transformed together, and returned unblemished into the Mind of God. Being beyond learning, this state cannot be described. The stages necessary to its attainment, however, need to be understood, if peace is to be restored to God's Son, who lives now with the illusion of death and the fear of God.
Praying for Others
We said that prayer is always for yourself, and this is so. Why, then, should you pray for others at all? And if you should, how should you do it? Praying for others, if rightly understood, becomes a means for lifting your projections of guilt from your brother, and enabling you to recognize it is not he who is hurting you. The poisonous thought that he is your enemy, your evil counterpart, your nemesis, must be relinquished before you can be saved from guilt. For this the means is prayer, of rising power and with ascending goals, until it reaches even up to God.
The earlier forms of prayer, at the bottom of the ladder, will not be free from envy and malice. They call for vengeance, not for love. Nor do they come from one who understands that they are calls for death, made out of fear by those who cherish guilt. They call upon a vengeful god, and it is he who seems to answer them. Hell cannot be asked for another, and then escaped by him who asks for it. Only those who are in hell can ask for hell. Those who have been forgiven, and who accepted their forgiveness, could never make a prayer like that.
At these levels, then, the learning goal must be to recognize that prayer will bring an answer only in the form in which the prayer was made. This is enough. From here it will be an easy step to the next levels. The next ascent begins with this:
What I have asked for my brother is not what I would have. Thus have I made of him my enemy.
It is apparent that this step cannot be reached by anyone who sees no value or advantage to himself in setting others free. This may be long delayed, because it may seem to be dangerous instead of merciful. To the guilty, there seems indeed to be a real advantage in having enemies, and this imagined gain must go, if enemies are to be set free.
Guilt must be given up, and not concealed. Nor can this be done without some pain, and a glimpse of the merciful nature of this step may for some time be followed by a deep retreat into fear. For fear's defenses are fearful in themselves, and when they are recognized they bring their fear with them. Yet what advantage has an illusion of escape ever brought a prisoner? His real escape from guilt can lie only in the recognition that the guilt has gone. And how can this be recognized as long as he hides it in another, and does not see it as his own? Fear of escape makes it difficult to welcome freedom, and to make a jailer of an enemy seems to be safety. How, then, can he be released without an insane fear for yourself? You have made of him your salvation and your escape from guilt. Your investment in this escape is heavy, and your fear of letting it go is strong.
Stand still an instant, now, and think what you have done. Do not forget that it is you who did it, and who can therefore let it go. Hold out your hand. This enemy has come to bless you. Take his blessing, and feel how your heart is lifted and your fear released. Do not hold on to it, nor onto him. He is a Son of God, along with you. He is no jailer, but a messenger of Christ. Be this to him, that you may see him thus.
Love,
David
After having had a light experience, I have no motivation for doing anything of this world. How do I find peace?
Question:
In 1976 I had an experience that lasted over several months wherein nothing seemed real, and I was asking, "What is real?". Around that time, a voice within me seemed to tell me several things, and my life has never been the same.
The first message I heard was, “If you are busy pretending you are something you are not, you will never know who you really are.” I kept asking what was real, looking around and saying, “Is this real, is this real?” And the voice within me would say, “No, that was an illusion, here today, gone tomorrow, now you see it now you don't.” Up to this point I had no spiritual knowledge except through Protestant churches, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Christian.
One day after work I was sitting on my bed. (I had come to look forward to rushing home from work, getting situated on my bed and getting quiet, as it was there it seemed, I found a presence of peace, as if a light would be around me and my questions would be answered. At that time, I thought the presence was in my bedroom.) On this particular occasion, after being told that this, then that, was not real, I asked vehemently, "Then what is real?" The room seemed to fill with light. The light seemed to be coming from the inside of me. The moment was full of peace and a sense of absoluteness, and it said, "I am He and there is no other." Well, somewhere on the inside of me, that resonated. I called the entity Spirit.
For the next couple of months it seemed to be the only thing that seemed real to me, and I couldn't seem to keep from telling everyone, "We are One. There is no other," as it resounded on the inside of me, even though I couldn't seem to explain it beyond that. That particular occasion set me on a spiritual journey searching through all religions, trying to find that surety that I had experienced. The "spirit" continued talking to me throughout this journey. It was not until I began studying ACIM that I started getting the same message as that initial message, and it hearkened me back to that occurrence, which I had pretty much chalked up to my being loony and desperate to feel special, so I had concocted it myself.
Before that happened, I could not find my niche in this world, but since that happened, I have had absolutely no interest in anything except searching for what I called the "truth." Nothing else seemed or seems to have purpose, and it is so hard for me to get out of the vicious circle of thinking I should get busy with this or that, dreading it, feeling guilty for my feelings, etc. I could make myself do the things I had to do, such as raising my family, keeping my home orderly and clean, but I have such a difficult time in wanting to do anything.
I know that "shoulds" and "ought to's", have echoed in my head all my life, but I haven't seemed to be able to extricate myself from them. All truly does seem to be vanity, to serve no purpose. Everything I would do, just seems to serve this illusion, and I have wanted to escape it ever since that experience in 1976. Help! This is beyond explaining. What do I forgive to find release? How do I return to peace?
Answer:
Thanks for pouring out your stream of thoughts and for your willingness to forgive and Awaken. It is wonderful! You have heard the Voice for God reminding you of the illusory nature of the world. With "A Course In Miracles" you have a tool to train your mind to hear ONLY the Holy Spirit's Voice, and release the ego's voice of doubt forever. In using and practicing the lessons of ACIM you will be forgiving the belief in separation, the belief in time-space, the belief in a linear sequence of separate events. You will experience many miracles which will collapse time and leave your mind at peace. You will grasp and experience the Holy Spirit's Purpose, which is the replacement for the ego's "purpose" of death, guilt, fear, and separation.
You've glimpsed the new Purpose of forgiveness, of seeing the illusory nature of the cosmos, yet until the ego's "purpose" is completely unlearned or undone you will seem to wander. It can seem during this wandering that the world will have no purpose at all. This is the approach to the point in mind in which you see that the roadways of the world lead nowhere. As the mind approaches this point everything will seem pointless, yet beyond the point of utter meaninglessness is the Light of the Holy Spirit. As you join with this Light, the Light will shine through you and radiate to everything and everyone. The Holy Spirit shines through you, shining away every scrap of darkness, and this experience is one of effortless Ease. There is no struggle or conflict in being shone through. It is as though you are transparent, for there are no personal goals or agendas to intrude.
The Holy Spirit Guides surely. In every seeming situation the judgment of the Holy Spirit directs. This is judgment through you rather than by you, and under the Holy Spirit's judgment there is never any loss to anyone. In the Holy Spirit's Purpose there are never any commands or demands, only suggestions and instructions and reminders. You can seem to resist the Holy Spirit's Call, yet delay is always temporary and Atonement or Correction is inevitable. That is why this is a required course. Forgiveness is unavoidable, and though there seem to be many forms and pathways for coming to forgiveness, in content they are all the same. Forgiveness simply sees the false as false, and quietly rests in peace.
The voice of "shoulds" and "ought to's" is the ego. These guilt-ridden expectations arise from a false sense of self, a self-concept that God did not create. This concept was make-believe, for it sought to replace the Self God created in Eternal Perfection. All frustration arises in consciousness from pretending to be human, and all human roles are constructs that perpetuate this pretense of identity. In the Present, free from the distortions of the past, You are free in Spirit as God created You.
Forgiveness is giving up nothing to accept Everything. Mind is unified, and peace and wholeness go together. You have asked: "What do I forgive to find release? How do I return to peace?" To forgive the belief in time-space is to say to God: "Show me Eternity!" To forgive the belief in separation is to say to God: "Show me the Union of Eternity." The Holy Spirit will convince you that time is unreal and Eternity is real if you will let Him. Nothing is asked of you in truth, for You are already and forever Perfect, Whole, and Complete as God created You. Forgiveness opens the way to remember this Truth.
Love & Blessings,
David
Is it possible to study the Course and be happy even in a country like Argentina which has deep poverty?
Question:
Is it possible to live in a struggling country and at the same time read and practice the Course?
Answer:
Yes, it is inevitable to practice the Course wherever you seem to be. Take for example poverty. That was part of the transformation that I experienced. I used to believe that poverty was tied into material conditions. Jesus taught me that poverty was the same as ego thinking. There are many people that have much wealth and possessions that truly live in poverty because of a sense of lack and ego thinking. To the ego there is never enough. So this helped me realize that poverty was a state of mind. In trusting in the Holy Spirit, everything I seemed to need to share the message is provided effortlessly.
Love,
David
How to deal with debt? Debt as a defense against looking inward...(video)
General description of video: All circumstances in form are a reflection of beliefs in the mind. Undoing these beliefs makes way for miracles to occur. Things such as debt are a distraction from what is going on inside. It is an invitation to look much deeper inside.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nl93jKpqII
How can I surrender COMPLETELY and let all my practical concerns (debt, renewal of green card, etc..) be handled for me?
Question:
Before ACIM I could only comprehend the idea that none could think for me, none could feel for me, none could be for me, none could believe for me, everything was then "from me." I was always "on the go," depressed, anxious, I lacked space, I had no time, I had nothing; so fear, pressure and uncertainty were everywhere and my life came close to chaos.
But the depression I lived for almost two years had practical consequences, I have tons of bills to pay and I'm about to lose my job in two months as I forgot to renew my green card, this will take one year to be resolved. I can't hide these fears and run away. I have much more peace and contentment but I still smoke, and I have all these practical concerns and must do's.
How can I surrender c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y?
I know the answer is the Holy Spirit, surrendering to Him is receiving His guidance, His care, His answers, and His peace, His love, for He is within, thus everywhere. Can you offer me some divine inspiration? Communicate with me helping me with my surrender to Him at this moment.
Answer:
Thanks for your devotion and willingness to move in the direction of complete surrender to God's Divine Will, Which is Our Own in Christ. The prayer of your heart, the deepest desire within, has carried you to the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. With each miracle your trust and confidence in the Comforter grows. With each miracle the mind moves inward towards Certainty, towards Realization, towards Recognition. You are the Living One, and the Holy Spirit will handle all the seeming details of Awakening if you will give your worries and concerns over and leave them unprotected. Without protection concerns and worries are immediately dissolved, and it matters not if they seem to be about finances or sickness or the renewal of a green card. Has the lack of money ever prevented you from miracles and insights and revelations? The Holy Spirit has been Guiding you every step of the way, even during the times when you were unaware. Now you will truly Shine, for your skills and gifts are being given over to the Comforter Who knows your best interests in every seeming situation. The Comforter knows how best to reflect God's Love, using the symbols the ego made to lead the mind to the Healed Perspective.
I have a friend who smokes. When she traveled with me for a series of gatherings, the Holy Spirit used the smoking as a backdrop for joining. She had joyful encounters with brothers and sisters all along the way who would gather together with her, light up their cigarettes, and then relax and Lighten up. One could hear their joy and laughter. The miracle restores the mind to wholeness, and things that once seemed to be addictions fade and fade from awareness as Love returns to awareness. Let the Holy Spirit Guide the way.
You are fully capable of being in your holy function, wherever the location seems to be. If you seem to be in New York, allow this setting to be the backdrop for many holy encounters. If you seem to be back in Brazil or in any country it will be the same. While you believe in time and space, be Comforted with this: you cannot but be in the right place at the right time. A slightly shorter version is this: trust would settle every problem now.
I am joined with you in the Holy Spirit's Purpose. No one can fail who seeks to reach the Truth.
Blessings of Love Shower upon You Always,
David
How can I let go of relying on a job for income, or of hoping for an intimate partnership and just trust things to work out?
Question:
I know—because you have told me—that there are no problems apart from one's mind, and the one solution to the problem is within one's mind and available this instant. I love that. Now as to what seems very real—my job, and living paycheck to paycheck and seeing this as my source of income. How does a person remove their self from that picture and trust things will work out? I also would like to share my life with someone but it’s not happening. Sometimes I feel it's because I am always waiting—waiting for something to change. I know this is what I created, and it’s an illusion. I need some help here to see my way out of it, if you could give me some insight on this. Thanks.
Answer:
Thanks for writing and sharing what is on your mind. It does seem to be a big turn around—seeing the many "problems" of the world as one distorted perception based on one erroneous belief. Looking in a darkened glass for such a long, long time, illusions can seem to be fixed and accepted as reality to the mind conditioned to the darkness. The early lessons of the ACIM Workbook are designed to loosen this fixed and distorted perception so that the miracle, a new perception, can be grasped.
It is always helpful to be reminded that things are never what they seem to be in this world. The purpose you hold and bring with you each day determines the experience you have. To the ego a job is for money and survival and self esteem, and two bodies living under one roof are for intimacy and privacy and getting needs met. To the ego there is fear associated with the loss of a job or a spouse, because they seem to be "sources" for getting important "needs" met. Yet as the mind opens to miracles, the mind receives a fresh new Purpose for everything. The focus shifts from "what can I get" to "what can I extend." This shift of purpose opens up a storehouse of miracles that have remained inside, waiting to be given away. It feels wonderful to be loving and kind and nonjudgmental, and a momentum begins to build in the expressions of love. The Holy Spirit Guides the Awakening mind inward toward an experience of wholeness and a feeling of completion. The movement of Awakening dispels feelings of scarcity and need and lack as the Joy of Giving as God Gives takes over.
Each job and each relationship is nothing more than a learning opportunity. And regardless of the duration of the specific assignment, learning is always maximal. The most that can be learned is learned, and the seeming "end" of a relationship or job is not a real "ending." Decisions are continuous and flow from the purpose the mind hold out front. It is really helpful to ask yourself "What is this for?" with the ways you use time. This is a way of getting in touch with what you value and believe is worthwhile. The Holy Spirit Helps the mind save time by offering a completely different Purpose for time. The Holy Spirit's focus is always the present, for the present is the point of decision and the point of power. The ego ignores the present and stays fixated on the past and the future. The ego offers the mind goals that can never be attained and distractions and side roads that lead nowhere. When you consider a goal, be open to the "goal" of present peace. Be open to the experience of Divine Ease.
Abundance is peace of mind, and the goals of the ego follow a different definition of "abundance." Bigger, better, faster, and more are ghosts in the ego's glitter of deception, yet by releasing the pursuit of these ghosts the mind comes to a genuine state of rest and calm. The Lord restores the tranquility of mind that is natural to the Child of the Living God. The pursuit of specific forms is a wild goose chase that never offers lasting satisfaction. As the mind ceases the pursuit and the chase, the witnesses and symbols to the Light within appear in awareness.
If contemplating a change in a "job situation" or pondering feelings about a particular "relationship opportunity" bring feelings of lightheartedness and joy, be willing to step through the door and into the "new" opportunity. Over and over, be willing. The Holy Spirit offers the Awakening mind progressively expansive and flexible self concepts as it approaches forgiveness. Each shift and each opening toward the Light is experienced as fearful to the ego, for the ego and its artificial limits are being dispelled. Stay focused on what you want to extend and offer, and do not give faith to the past thoughts of "getting" and "achieving." Salvation is the restoration of the mind, and the means is always peace. Past memories and forms cannot be restored, for they were the ghosts that obscured present peace. Everything in this world is backwards and upside down. Future loss is not the fear; present joining is the dread. When the mind no longer buys the bait of ego pursuits and distractions, the simple Intimacy of Loving Thought remains. And the Grand Surprise of the inward journey is the recognition of One Self as the Christ!
Be active in questioning beliefs and fears and limitations, for the "inner work" of allowing the mind to be loosed is your full-time “job." Protect your peace by staying aware of the Holy Spirit's Purpose for every seeming situation that arises. This Purpose will grow and grow in awareness and completely Light your holy mind. I am joined with you in this Purpose, and Whom God created as One cannot fail to recognize Its Oneness. I am with you All the Way!
Love,
David